Shipwrecked

Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island – the sole survivor from a ship wrecked at sea. Months into his plight he became so ill that he couldn't leave his bower. In the midst of one of his darker hours, feeling on the verge of death, he finally realizes the truth of his soul’s state. He was lost without God. After his repentance, he tells the readers:

"And I add this part here, to hint to whoever shall read it, that whenever they come to a true Sense of things, they will find Deliverance from Sin a much greater Blessing than Deliverance from Affliction.”

I know Mr. Crusoe is a fictional character, but Daniel Defoe has written a very important principle. One that God has been teaching me (and continues to teach me) even more lately.

How do you usually react to trials? How do you treat others who treat you poorly? What do your conversations with God look like when troubles come?

I’ve been the worst when it has come to hard times!! I’m really a big whiner, I admit. My attitudes can get me into awful patterns of mistrusting God and a downward cycle of self-centeredness. So while I write this, I have seen myself come a long way, but please know I still have a very long way to go!

James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials , knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance . And let endurance have its perfect result , so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

I used to think of this passage like, "Suck it up, ye whiners, and focus on Christ. And try to act happy about it!" (Believe me, I would make it sound more spiritual than that.) But last year I learned the truth of this passage that has really helped me walk by faith in my circumstances of life.

Just like with Robinson, Jesus sent the disciples into a storm. Was He mean wanting to watch the disciples suffer? No! Through their time in distress, they got to see Jesus do the miraculous in front of them, to show His deity. So will God send us through difficult times for the fun of it? Heavens no! In fact, according to this passage, God allows the hard things in life to happen so we can be mature and complete, not lacking anything. And here is the truth: God cares far more about our maturity and completion than He does our current comfort. {Tweet this}

In the same chapter where Robinson repents, He says:
“How mercifully can our Creator treat His creatures, even in those conditions in which they seemed to be overwhelmed in destruction! How can He sweeten the bitterest providences  and give us cause to praise Him for dungeons and prisons! What a table was here spread for me in a wilderness where I saw nothing at first but to perish for hunger!”

Wherever you’re at, dear internet friend – whether you feel shipwrecked and alone, or drowning in trial after trials – God truly wants you to trust Him and praise Him in your dungeon! He will give you the cause if you simply see it. And remember that He cares for you! He cares for you in the long run as well as the you right now. He may be sending you through a storm right now, but take heart – God holds the future, and, as Romans 8:28 says, He will work everything out for your good and His glory!!

Dear Jesus, help us to understand you better in our trials. Please show us how we can trust you in our difficulties. Help remind us to keep you on the throne so we can do all that you called us to, especially to have joy in our storms and dungeons. In Your Powerful Name…

About Leah

Leah works with Master Plan Ministries at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. Other than watching college students' lives change, she enjoys getting her mind blown by God and His Word, watching sci fi, baking cupcakes, and spending time with her hunky husband. 

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